Welcome to the Halfworld, that boundary between the Inside and the Outside. It touches our world at every point, but it doesn't really exist. If you step through, be aware you may be trapped here, in a timeless shadowland where you can see both sides but not interact.

Friday, February 6, 2015

I Don't Recognize Boredom

I didn't recognize it as boredom, since I've very seldom experienced that state. But in the Demons Bay world I've written The Guardian (2 books), the Demonborn Series (four books so far), Baystorm, Courier (2 books), FiaDeRoche, Oden, Hachi, The Heart of the Castle, No One Argued with the Mountain, Tradition (two books), several short stories, and started dozens more novels that are just waiting for me to finish. All in the same world.

The world itself is fascinating, the people, the culture, I'll never get tired of all the possible nuances. But writing in the same world for thirty years running...It was too much.

So yesterday I pulled out another story that I'd put away, one that isn't in the Demons Bay world, and suddenly I was excited again. I dove back into it with my old enthusiasm. I have other possibilities, so many other things crowding my back-brain, wanting their turn to shine. The urban fantasy world of Spirit (I still want to write Moma's story), the cross-genre world of the Shapers. Even a few stories that may turn out to be mainstream (anything's possible). I'd love to revisit Shalaylia, and I see ways that it could intersect with the Spirit world.

With hundreds of possibilities, why did I stick so long with one? Probably mostly habit. This world is old and familiar and comfortable. Every story brings out something new that I didn't know before, or a new way of looking at old information. The history is fascinating and their culture is opposite of ours, with the servants in control and the aristocracy kept as powerless wards. I love it.

But just as I sometimes need a break from writing (odd as that may seem) sometimes I need a break from a particular world. I've never needed a break from this one before, so it didn't occur to me.

So today I write on Spirit Ring and the editing for Tree Spirit. The plot edit for GloryRoad will be next, and I need to make sure that whatever project I start next isn't in the Demons Bay world.